Est.2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

Banner promoting anonymous crime reporting with a phone and contact number 1 800 TIPS (8477), featuring the Crime Stoppers logo and a QR code for submitting tips.

Is BLPC Seeking a New Rate Hearing

Trevor Browne

← Back

Your message to the BLOGMASTER was sent

CONTACT THE BLOGMASTER ONLY

We wish to share the attached Press Release which conveys our deep concerns about any possible abandonment of the ongoing BLPC rate hearing.

Having participated as an intervenor in that still outstanding exercise, we at CoopEnergy Barbados wish to fully support Intervenor Ricky Went’s strong concerns about any proposal to cancel the current hearings and to launch a new process.

Far too many unanswered questions, unresolved issues, and unclear decisions remain outstanding – for any such clandestine ending to be permitted.

Trevor Browne, Intervenor for The Alliance of Concerned Cooperatives

BLPC to Seek New Hearing

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

18 responses to “Is BLPC Seeking a New Rate Hearing”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Having a ready of the submission is embarrassing. It seems that EMERA and BL&P making a mockery of the FTC and Barbadians.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    On what consideration was the decision made to give the utility 30 years to repay the SIF?

  3. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Emera’s stock is trading around CAD 66.70 on the TSX as of Oct 20 2026, with a market cap of about CAD 20.4 billion and a dividend yield near 4.5%.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    It seems we are stuck n a mendicant mindset.

    Rising prices taking toll on Bajans

    By Diara Springer

    diaraspringer@nationnews.com

    At the checkout counters of two Black Rock supermarkets, shoppers are telling a similar story: the money they bring in no longer stretches as far as it once did.

    Consumers at Carlton Supermarket and Channell Supermarket, both in Black Rock, St Michael, reported sharp increases on a variety of items from meats and vegetables to toilet paper and canned goods. Some said they have been forced to leave items behind; others simply grit their teeth and pay.

    Jamar King, who was among those shopping at Carlton Supermarket, said he has watched his regular grocery bill soar.

    “A bill that would normally be $400 to $500 has now gone up to $700 to $800,” he said.

    He noted that even household necessities are affected.

    “I’m realising the necessities like the soaps and the toilet papers are going up. The meats and veggies are skyrocketing as well,” he said.

    Anthony Alleyne said the increases have been steady and, in his view, permanent.

    “Everything gone up. The vegetables are ridiculous. The food in general just keeps going up and they don’t really ever come back down,” he said.

    He added that he has noticed a drastic rise over the past nine months, not only on food, but in bills and household goods too.

    Global conflict

    For retired people living on fixed incomes, the pressure is especially acute. Stanley Alleyne said his pension must cover bills, food and medical expenses. He recalled that a $100 shopping trip once filled several bags.

    “Now, that wouldn’t happen. Most you probably walk out [with] is two bags if you’re so lucky.”

    He estimated that the same groceries would now cost about $400.

    Even small comforts have become pricier. Stanley said pigtails, a personal favourite, rose from $17 to $20 in just three months. He believed imports and global conflict are partly to blame.

    “Of course there’s also the war happening that has impacted us,” he said, explaining that delayed

    shipments and higher duties have pushed prices up.

    He also suggested that bulk purchasing by supermarkets should translate into savings for customers.

    Some shoppers said they have tried to hunt for bargains, but the savings are slim.

    King said he searches for cheaper options but often finds the difference negligible.

    “Sometimes it’s just a few cents less, so it’s not that much of a decrease,” he said.

    Anthony Alleyne said he sometimes has to abandon items at the checkout, though he believes consumers hold some power.

    “I think if we stop buying the people things and take a stand, we would see a change,” he said.

    Essentials

    At Channell Supermarket, the story was much the same. Robert Yarde said canned items have been expensive for a long time.

    “Sometimes I see a tin of corned beef for like $7,” he observed. He added that meats such as lamb, chicken and beef have all gone up.

    Jennifer Small said she spent $200 during her latest trip but came away with little.

    “I find the prices on the essentials are really going up,” she said.

    She estimated the same items would previously have cost$150 to $160.

    Even drinks have not been spared.

    “One time you could get a juice for $6, now I see them in there for $9,” she said.

    Like others, Small said she sometimes has to put items back.

    “I try to make out and get everything that I need, but sometimes with how high the prices are, I have to put back,” she noted.

    However, not every shopper is changing their habits. Carlos John said he does not shop with a budget and does not check prices.

    “I see what I want and take it up. So if I see something at $5, I will buy it for $5,” he said.

    He added that even when he knows an item might be cheaper elsewhere, he will pay the price at the store he is already in.

    Bigger salaries

    Jeffrey Alleyne, born and raised in Barbados but who now resides in Kansas, United States, and is visiting home, said prices here shocked him.

    Items that cost around $80 in Barbados, he said, would run about $20 overseas. He pointed to a parcel

    of pork priced at $45 as especially jarring.

    “Don’t we raise pigs in Barbados? Why is it so expensive?” he asked.

    “We need to manufacture more things in Barbados,” he said, adding that heavy reliance on imports is driving up costs compared with growing and selling locally.

    He also called for higher pay to keep pace.

    “If things are going to be so expensive, they need to increase salaries. You need bigger salaries to combat the cost of living. I think Barbadians should be making around $90 000 a year to survive,” he said.

    Source: Nation

  5. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    “Having a read of the submission is embarrassing.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    Can’t be right!!!

    So are you blocking responses to these accusations from the company and from the FTC Boss?
    Surely someone will come and refute these numbers being bandied around…

    It is also ‘passing strange’ that the same reports from Barbados Today and by the Nation from Browne and the Co-op, are so completely different to BU’s article?

    Common sense tells us that energy prices will impact EVERY other area of pricing and competitiveness for Brassbados.
    So how are we able to ignore the complaints of these intervenors for years now … and then pretend surprise that ‘rising prices are taking a toll…’

    What a Place!!

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    The blogmaster listened with difficulty to Marlon Yarde of the Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE) explaining why Barbadians need to invest in listed companies. Bear in mind the BSE is failing to entice companies to list. Why the held would Barbados investors buy shares?

    There is a root problem our leaders are unable to solve.

  7. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    The blogmaster listened with difficulty to Marlon Yarde of the Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    LOL
    Gotta give him credit for showing up though – given the STANDARD practice of other PUBLIC FAILURES not to even show their faces in front of the Press or public with questions.

    The BSE is one colossal joke.

    There is nothing funnier than the nightly news report that ‘…there was no trade on the local exchange…’ ha ha ha
    How long do you think our leaders will take to work out that there HAS TO BE a fundamental problem with the shiite system…?
    Yarde’s response to every concern raised was that ‘they are aware’ and are ‘working on the matter’…
    What a Place!!

    It could be quite funny
    …if one was unaware of how badly it will all end VERY shortly.

  8. David Avatar
    David

    It is a chicken and the egg scenario we find ourselves. How can regular Barbadians be encouraged to invest in a climate that offers very limited opportunities with reasonable returns?

    It seems obvious one of the ways to stimulate an active and attractive investment space is to create a secondary market. People want to know there is an avenue to quickly liquidate investments.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    Bajans urged to look beyond NISSS to secure financial future

    WITH BARBADOS’ RETIREMENT AGE set to increase twice over the next six years and lingering uncertainty over the viability of the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS), Barbadians are being advised to secure their financial future via other means.

    Investment was the topic on Starcom Network’s Sunday Brass Tacks radio call-in programme yesterday and chief executive officer of Fortress Fund Managers, Peter Arender, told potential investors to look at it like a meal, with the NISSS being a part of it.

    “But there are other elements to the financial security that you’re hoping to build. The other elements would be things like private pension plans, private investments and things like mutual funds or shares. Whether or not the NISSS continues to build and grow in the ways that it needs to support its current promises, I don’t know that anybody knows, but we can see the direction of travel in the last several years, and it hasn’t been towards earlier retirement ages and bigger benefits,” he said. “It’s been in the other direction.

    “So I think all the more it underlines the need for us all as individuals and as companies to help employees do better on the personal side so that at the end or along the way, we get a good rounded meal as opposed to overly relying on one thing.”

    Won’t join

    Arender said there were people who opted not to join a company’s pension plan, but were essentially “leaving money on the floor” that they could have for their future.

    Barbados’ age of retirement, which is now 67 years, is set to increase to 67.5 in 2028 and 68 by 2034.

    Michael Jordan, executive director of JMMB Barbados which also offers similar services, advised potential investors to engage a broker. He said people first had to determine the objectives – whether it was short or long term, for themselves or descendants, and not just the willingness to take a risk, but the ability to do so. This would be done after ensuring they were able to meet their financial obligations like housing, food, utilities and so on, and then looking at how much disposable income they were willing to invest, he added. (SAT)

    Source: Nation

  10. David Avatar
    David

    An interesting article for the few that follow this kind of news. Why the movement at this time in the Republic hierchy? Could it be there is a strategic decision that has created disquiet? Besides Jeremy what are our other analysts saying?

    Republic Bank and the price of confidence

    A CHANGE in the cockpit does not mean an aircraft is unsafe. However, if the person announced as its next captain leaves before taking command, followed by an experienced colleague, passengers will reasonably ask what happened.

    Telling everybody that the aircraft has flown successfully for years will hardly settle the cabin.

    I found myself thinking along those lines following the recent developments at Republic Financial Holdings Limited in Trinidad and Tobago. Richard Sammy, the designated successor to Nigel Baptiste, exited the group effective October 14.

    Barbadian businessman Edward Ince resigned from the board of Republic Bank Limited, its Trinidad and Tobago subsidiary, effective October 15. Karen Yip Chuck is now due to assume the group’s top executive position on January 1, 2027, subject to regulatory approval.

    These developments warrant attention here in Barbados. I attach particular weight to Ince’s standing in our business community. His departure deserves an explanation.

    His reputation cannot, however, tell us why he left, establish that the departures were connected, or prove the allegations of political interference circulating in Trinidad.

    There is another distinction we should make. Sammy had not yet assumed the chief executive position. What changed was an announced succession arrangement. Republic’s own statement praised his integrity.

    That makes the reversal interesting, but it gives us no licence to invent a reason. The question is what changed between his selection and departure.

    Concern beyond personalities

    For Barbados, the concern extends beyond personalities. Republic Bank (Barbados) Limited is a separate company within the same financial group. Its local board and regulatory obligations matter.

    Equally, a separate company name does not eliminate the influence of group strategy, shared services or decisions about capital. An unsettled headquarters can therefore affect business conducted here without any immediate deterioration in the local loan book.

    The first effect I would watch is lending. A leadership transition can prompt reviews of lending limits, investment plans and the kinds of business a bank wishes to finance. A perfectly viable Barbadian company may then wait longer for an expansion loan or an overdraft renewal. For an importer, that delay can mean missing a shipment. For a contractor, it can mean postponing employment. We sometimes discuss bank governance as though it remains confined to a boardroom.

    The economic consequences can arrive at somebody else’s payroll.

    That matters in a small market because borrowers cannot always replace a banking relationship quickly. Another lender must assess the business, its collateral and its repayment history. Even where the financial system has ample liquidity, the money may not reach the same firms on the same terms.

    A temporary pause at one institution can therefore become a wider brake on productive investment, especially among smaller Barbadian enterprises.

    This also explains my concern about profitability. Delayed decisions and changes in strategy could weaken earnings during the transition. That remains a forecast, with economic growth and successful management providing possible offsets. Higher fees are another possibility if management seeks more income from transactions, but there is no evidence here that increases are planned. Customers should watch actual pricing, lending terms and service standards.

    Confidence provides a second route. A customer need not understand a capital adequacy ratio to become uncomfortable with unanswered questions. If deposits move to competing banks, the immediate effect may be a redistribution of liquidity within Barbados. It does not automatically amount to capital leaving the country. Nevertheless, the bank losing deposits could become more cautious about lending, while persistent rumours could unsettle customers elsewhere.

    Then there are the connections with the rest of our financial system. Regulators should examine exposures through deposits, investments and credit facilities involving other banks, credit unions, insurers and pension funds.

    They should also check transactions between affiliated companies and dependence on shared systems. These are potential channels of systemic risk if financial difficulties arise. Their existence does not establish that losses have occurred.

    Succession plan changed?

    We should keep the evidence in view. The Central Bank and Financial Services Commission’s (FSC) 2025 Financial Stability Report described a stable system with adequate aggregate capital and liquidity. Commercial banks’ capital adequacy ratio nevertheless declined from 21.2 to 19 per cent. These are sector figures, not Republic’s individual position, and they predate these departures. They support vigilance rather than a declaration of crisis.

    What, then, should we ask? Why was the succession plan changed?

    Did either departure involve disagreement over strategy, lending or governance? Were concerns raised through the appropriate channels and properly addressed? A bank can protect legitimate employment confidentiality while explaining its decision process. Regulators, with access to confidential records, should obtain fuller answers than the public can reasonably expect.

    The allegations of political interference require particular care. Shareholders have legitimate rights to influence the composition of a board. Directors must still exercise independent judgement and protect the institution’s interests.

    Barbados’ corporate governance guidance explicitly addresses undue influence and the responsibilities of subsidiary boards. Any political involvement must be established through evidence. We should apply that standard consistently, whatever our party preferences or views about the individuals involved.

    Our Central Bank should therefore engage its Trinidad and Tobago counterpart and Republic’s local board. It should assess local capital and liquidity, exposures to affiliated companies, and whether lending decisions or essential services have been affected.

    The FSC should examine relevant exposures among the institutions it supervises. Public communication should explain the findings that can be disclosed and identify any corrective action, without breaching legitimate confidentiality.

    Republic, for its part, should demonstrate continuity through clear responsibilities and credible information about the transition. We should judge the outcome against lending activity, service delivery and financial results over the coming quarters. Silence leaves customers to supply their own explanations, and those explanations may prove considerably less charitable than the facts.

    The aircraft may be perfectly sound. What passengers deserve is a convincing account of the change in command and confidence that the people responsible have checked the instruments. Barbados has too much travelling on this flight to be satisfied with a reassuring announcement from the cockpit.

    Jeremy Stephen is an economist/ financial analyst with extensive experience in private equity and economic consulting in Barbados and the region. Email: economistfeedback @gmail.com

    Source: Nation

  11. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    “Bajans urged to look beyond NISSS to secure financial future”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    NISSS shiite!!!
    LOL
    Anyone who pays attention to ANY news outside of the BLP media network – which includes the local traditional Press can see that we need to look WAY beyond any human systems to secure ANY type of future.

    Shiite!
    -Fuel is GUARANTEED to become a critical challenge by January
    -Food is looking to soon become as scarce as NISSS financial reports from government
    -El Nino has decided to choose 2026-27 to be at its all-time worse in history
    -Trump is about to lose the ONLY thing that kept him even SLIGHTLY rational, The House and Senate
    -Europe is being burned by its spoilt children
    -Israel is about to lose its USA umbrella – just when Iran has shown its abilities
    -Ukraine just figured out that they were being used as pawns by the USA to pressure Russia…

    Wuh!!
    The ONLY good news is the damn Gospel….
    LOL
    What a time to be alive and kicking…!

  12. David Avatar
    David

    Some things that ordinary mortals do not understand. Tax dollars pay BL&P but their business is a state secret. A business that is accurately characterised as a monopoly.

    Power talks

    BLPC, FTC discussions to proceed without intervenors

    by SHAWN CUMBERBATCH shawncumberbatch@nationnews.com

    THE ELECTRICITY RATE application decision appeal has taken a new turn in the High Court.

    Barbados Light & Power Company (BLPC) and the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) have received approval to engage in unspecified discussions that are pertinent to the case.

    Justice Barry Carrington, presiding in Supreme Court No. 12 yesterday, granted a BLPC application asking for an adjournment of the proceedings so that the talks could take place between the two parties only.

    In doing so, Carrington made it clear that the public’s interest would be protected because whatever agreements BLPC and the FTC reached would have to be communicated to the court for its ruling.

    After attorneys Tricia Watson, representing herself and co-intervenor David Simpson, and Ralph Thorne, KC, counsel for intervenor Kenneth “Ricky” Went, argued against their exclusion from the discussions between the utility company and its regulator, the judge also assured them of their opportunity to make submissions

    once the matter resumed in court.

    Judge’s decision

    “Whatever discussions are held, whatever decisions are arrived at, they must be communicated to the court and as is the law and more so my practice, I will ask the intervenors to make comments. Once the matter is before me, then I will exercise the authority, the jurisdiction, that I have in relation to determining the matter,” Carrington said before adjourning the proceedings.

    The appeal, which was filed in December 2023 after BLPC was dissatisfied with aspects of the FTC’s electricity rate application decision in February 2023 and the motion to review ruling in November of that year, was expected to resume hearings yesterday, before continuing on November 17 and 18.

    With the adjournment, submissions in the case have been rescheduled to January 26, and February 2 and 9.

    Senior Counsel Ramon Alleyne, lead attorney forBLPC, told the court yesterday that with his client and the FTC involved in certain discussions, “the likelihood, or the hope is, that in the context of those discussions, . . . some of the more troubling aspects of this matter may be simplified” for the court’s benefit.

    Thorne and Watson both argued against the intervenors’ exclusion from the talks.

    “You can’t make light of the fact that sometime ago . . . the jurisdiction of this court gave locus standi to two intervenors . . . not as an expression of courtesy or privilege, it became a . . . right to be present and a right to be heard, and here is a party, here is an attorney-at-law, coming to the court and saying that they will prepair to negotiation, to discussion, and that the matter will be resolved,” Thorne submitted.

    “What state secret will be discussed that the intervenor Mr Kenneth Went should be excluded? And if you are reaching agreement in a matter in which he has been an intervenor at the hearing, a party at the trial, should Mr Went, not as a matter of courtesy, but as a matter of right, had been invited to those discussions? He is a relevant party.”

    Watson said that while she did not object to a short adjournment if the court deemed it to be reasonable, her concerns included that intervenors were not involved and that “the application does not explain the why beyond saying ‘we are having discussions’”.

    “The parties, all of them, have to be in the room so long as the matter pertains to an open case, whether it is an appeal . . . or an active review application. And the intervenors are lawful parties to these proceedings and we have to be invited,” she asserted.

    Watson also noted that “any resolution that [the

    FTC and BLPC] put to the court must be tested against whether it is fair to rate payers present and future”.

    “It is not enough for them to be content with whatever resolutions they are discussing in secret. I am offended . . .that [BLPC and the FTC] think it is proper to have private discussions on a matter that they know involves other approved interested parties,” she said.

    Her view was that if BLPC and the FTC were able to set rates outside of the public process, it would affect the FTC’s statutory responsibilities, defeat the Commission’s duty to consult and breach procedural propriety and natural justice.

    In response, Alleyne said there was nothing that BLPC and the FTC could discuss relevant to the proceedings that would not be before the court.

    This, he told the court, was because the intervenors “will have the right within these proceedings to comment on anything that is brought to you for consideration”.

    “There is no danger to the process, there is no danger to the public interest. This is not the end of the proceedings, we have to come back to court. All of the parties are protected,” Alleyne said.

    “Anything that is discussed has to come to this court. Any resolution has to come to this court, and neither [BLPC or the FTC] is of the view . . . that there can be a resolution without reference to [the court].”

    Source: Nation

  13. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Nothing is more critical to the future security of a country than its ENERGY management. This is particularly true in 2026.
    EVERY SINGLE aspect of the society is impacted by the cost and availability of electricity. Yet …nothing is clearer than the COMPLETE FAILURE of our regulatory structures with respect to utilities – and to energy in particular.

    How the Hell can a simple rate adjustment application – filed in 2022, …STILL be unresolved in 2026, and no SERIOUS investigation be done into such a gross underperformance by the FTC?

    Now to hear that the new plan (between the BLPC and FTC) is to get rid of intervenors from the process – a process which our Government started with legal changes DURING THE RATE CASE.
    Obviously the Intervenors have been digging up more dirt that the process has made provision for.
    It also appears that some of the intervenors are even more knowledgeable than the official players – appearing more often in the press, willing to answer questions, and making SERIOUS unanswered challenges about energy operations in the country.
    One intervenor has openly complained that NO PLAN EXISTS for energy transformation in Barbados… without any public challenge from authorities.

    Ms Watson has been particularly vocal about the mis-application of the regulatory laws by authorities to the disadvantage of customers.

    Who EXACTLY is responsible for this chaos? Which of the rotating energy ministers over the last years will take responsibility when the inevitable blackout comes…?

    What a place!

  14. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    The decision to keep out intervenors was made by the court? The point being the judiciary is meant to be independent from the Executive.

  15. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Sounds like the decision was conspired by BLPC and the FTC, who then jointly went to the court for leave to execute.
    The court probably has little choice, since it is a matter brought by BLPC AGAINST FTC – which they now jointly are conspiring to ‘hush up’ …after they realize that intervenors would otherwise get to talk FREELY in a court of Law.

    This is somewhat like Bushie putting BU in court because you refused to ban Kiki, …but after we get together and realize that he will get the chance IN A COURT OF LAW, to expound on Mary J and on the philosophy of dub music, and perhaps be listened to by BBs, we decide not to take the risk… LOL

    The ‘problem’ with intervenors is that they have NO RESPECT for the lotta dirty skeletons that ROUTINELY reside in our energy closets.

    Expect to hear that a ‘cremation’ is planned whenever this scam ends…

  16. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    The BLPC has completly captured the supposed “regulator”, and the FTC is basically just a department of the utility, but on the public payroll. It is very embarrassing for Barbados.

  17. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    “It is very embarrassing for Barbados.”
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Speak for yourself PLT.
    You are an outlier.
    You ever see an embarrassed BB PARRO??

    Self respect is the VERY FIRST thing that goes…
    Besides they would first need to be AWARE of their exposed donkeys…

    Don’t you grasp the BAJAN concept of being ‘bewitched”?

    We have effectively tied a string around our gonads, and handed the other end to a bunch of unknown Canadian albino-centric capitalists.

  18. David Avatar
    David

    @Chairman Alleyne of the Electoral Boundaries Commission

    Just get to an agreement already.

    https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18vYDEpRy8/

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending